Ready For A Change
by TheSquirrelLordess
Summary: One morning, everything changes for Valkyrie and Skulduggery. This is what happens when a bombshell is dropped... and sometimes the pieces can't be put back together... Will contain pairings, but that depends on the rewiews I get :)
1. Chapter 1: Goodbyes

"A sensitive. More visions on Darquess. Sanctuary..." Ravel barked words down the phone to Skulduggery who was already abandoning his research and hauling Valkyrie to the Bentley. They sped off and Valkyrie focused on putting her seatbelt on as Skulduggery tried to concentrate on driving quickly without seeming to suspicious. Neither of them spoke until they were in a dark room with a woman sitting in the middle. Her bright red eyes darted around the room and some of her flaming hair stuck to her forehead. Her ruby lips were twisted into a grimace as she focused on something in the distance. As soon as one of Skulduggery's toes was over the doorway, Ravel pulled a lever that filtered steam into the room. A dark outline of a young girl stood surrounded by burning wreckage of what used to be a house. She stepped forwards slowly and everything was slow and quiet until suddenly something blurred out from the shadows and stopped at her side. Valkyrie paled as she watched Lord Vile look down on Darquess with what looked like pride. Skulduggery stiffened as the armour creaked as they walked into the night, two silhouettes against he night sky. The vision ended and the sensitive slumped onto the desk breathing heavily.

"You did well, Scarletta" Ravel said and patted her back. Ghastly nodded to her too and Valkyrie felt a rush of anger towards this scarlet woman in the centre of the room, who had almost ruined everything for her. The feeling quickly passed and Valkyrie looked up at Skulduggery, who was trying to act normally, but failing miserably in Valkyrie's eyes.

"That's not good" she said, trying to break the silence that had settled on the small group.

"It's not" Ravel agreed "Lord Vile could be the difference between saving or destroying the world..." he drifted off into thought and only Valkyrie seemed to be desperate to leave.

"We need to go..." Valkyrie said, trying to catch Skulduggery's eye. He noticed her and put a hand on Ravel's shoulder.

"We'll be back soon. There's a case we're working on that needs some attention"

Neither Ravel nor Ghastly objected so Skulduggery left the room with Valkyrie not far behind him. They walked in silence until they reached the safety of the Bentley, where Skulduggery and Valkyrie started speaking at the same time.

What do they do now? How does it happen? Could there be a misunderstanding? Was that girl Valkyrie?

Valkyrie and Skulduggery both spoke quickly so neither one could be entirely sure what the other had been saying, but they had a good idea.

"I just hoped we could stop this" Valkyrie said and banged her head against the dashboard.

"Now now, don't take it out on the Bentley"

"Sorry" Valkyrie mumbled but she didn't sound particularly apologetic so Skulduggery sighed.

"We have managed to get ourselves into a bit of a pickle, haven't we?"

Valkyrie laughed sadly and let herself out of the Bentley and into Gordon's where she had been living ever since she turned eighteen.

"You go talk to Ravel while I do some research with my uncle" she said and waved goodbye. Skulduggery was about to pull away when he leaned out of the window.

"Take care, Ok Val?"

"Ok" Valkyrie said, slightly confused as he drove away. She shrugged. Maybe all this emotional stuff was getting to him more than she'd thought.

Gordon was happy to see his niece again and listened attentively while she told him about Scarletta and her vision.

"So now you see why I'm in a bad mood?"

"I do. You know what you need? A nice cup of sugary tea"

"The world's on the verge of an apocalypse and you offer me tea?"

"Tea always makes things better. That's one of the first times you spoke to Skulduggery, isn't it? Over some tea?"

"And look what that led to" Valkyrie laughed but went off to make herself a hot drink.

The kitchen wasn't Valkyrie favourite place. She'd never really had much time for cooking and cleaning, but one thing she did love was a good cup of tea when things were looking bad. Stirring the mixture was strangely therapeutic and she pulled out a piece of paper to doodle on while she was sipping the sugary brew. She absentmindedly scribbled until she reached the bottom of the cup and was surprised to find the word 'Darquess' written with shadows and swirls engraved into the metallic surface of the letters. She scowled and scrunched up this reminder of her subconscious, throwing it into the bin as she put her teacup in the sink. She yawned and her eyes dropped as she flopped down on the sofa. Before she could drag herself upstairs for more mind numbing research she fell asleep still sprawled out in her work clothes.

The next morning, something was wrong. Valkyrie had that feeling, like something awful was about to happen and sat up with a strange feeling of dread as she caught sight of a crisp piece of paper.

"No no no..." she mumbled over and over as she scanned the writing.

'Valkyrie

I'm sorry it came down to this but I can't let Vile and Darquess destroy everything. I've moved away and I'm hoping to work for a different Sanctuary.

I hate to leave like this but I can't think of any other way. I hope you know I enjoyed being your partner and will never forget you.

Signed

Skulduggery'

She put the letter on the table and blinked back floods of tears. This had to be some sort of joke. Even as she traced his handwriting with her finger she knew it was real. She knew he'd gone.

"How could I have been so stupid? He's been in most of my life but I've only been in a tiny fraction of his. Stupid," she said out loud to no one in particular, and let her broken heart shatter. No tears came anymore; there was just a dull emptiness. Valkyrie felt hollow and unemotional as she brushed herself off and go ready for work. Now he was gone there was nothing for her to do but carry on as normal.

For weeks she tried to be a good detective, fighting for the Sanctuary solo, but wherever she went people gave her pitying stares and it seemed to her like the shadow of her ex-partner walked alongside her, pointing out what she did wrong and taunting her with jokes. One day, after about a month, Valkyrie decided she had enough of being in Skulduggery's shadow and made up her mind to change her identity. She would still be Valkyrie Cain, that was her taken name and nobody could change it, but she'd get a new look and a new job. Even a new home, away from all the painful memories. Locking the door to Gordon's mansion for the last time, Valkyrie stepped put into the world with a new view on things. She was off to America, where she could restart her life without worrying about finding somewhere that spoke English. Valkyrie Cain was ready for a new start.

4 years later...

Valkyrie Cain ducked as a razor sharp sword went flying over her head. A blonde girl walked straight through the wall behind her and slammed into the sword thrower. A boy with auburn hair helped pin the crazy dagger loving villain while a boy with hair the same shade of blonde as the girls knocked him out with a single punch.

"Good job guys" Valkyrie said without a flicker of a smile. She was taller and slightly more muscled, although thinner around her waist but apart from that Valkyrie was recognisable. Her black hair was long and slightly curly with a shiny, straight side fringe covering one dark eye. She'd changed her outfit years ago, and now she was mainly seen in an unbuttoned short sleeved lilac shirt that stopped about an inch above her bellybutton over a simple black tank top. A tight pair of leather trousers was tucked into her high tops and a chain looped from the belt loops on the trousers. The eye that was visible was heavily outlined with eyeliner, but apart from that Valkyrie didn't wear much makeup.

The American girl spoke in a soft, dreamy voice and her light blonde hair seemed to float as she moved through walls, "They never expect us through the walls. I don't understand why though, they know I'm part of Valkyrie Cain's group, so why don't they realise I'm there?"

"Help me move this lump, sis" Ralph Darlings called to his twin, who was happily sat on the grass. Luna Darlings stood up and managed to heave the criminal into an old truck, before standing next to Valkyrie.

"The sanctuary will be pleased" Luna sighed and drifted off into a daydream. Luna and Ralph, the twins, were both adepts. Luna could walk through walls while Ralph had super speed. The boy with auburn hair, Darren Magma, was a proud elemental, mainly focusing on fire. Valkyrie had expanded her Necromancer powers, finding Wreath at an old Necromancer building in San Francisco. Her power was channelled into the chain on her leather pants although there were rumours that it was actually channelled into the short fishnet fingerless gloves she wore. They were the fearsome four, the American Detectives, the scary ones. Darren was sat next to the unconscious body of their most recent capture, a mortal who'd discovered magic by accident and gone crazy, trying to take over the world by spearing his victims with long, thin swords. He played with a small fireball in his hands, almost singeing his hair whenever he got too interested. Luna and Ralph sat side by side on the grass, trying to find out whether they had any powers only twins could have. Their father had believed in telepathic powers between twins and although he was declared insane years ago, they liked to give it a try when there was nothing better to do. Valkyrie had adapted to life here well and regularly visited the new Necromancer temple, although she refused to wear the dull Necromancer robes like the others.

She didn't have many friends as she rarely smiled and was often cold towards people. Darren had noticed she also hated the mention of skeletons for some reason, although she had a cartoon skull tattooed on the inside of her wrist. Right now, the group had to get back to the American sanctuary, where a rather impatient Grand Mage would be waiting for them. He was nice enough, but he often expected results quickly. Luckily the gang were good at wrapping things up fast, so they got along well enough. One person that annoyed Valkyrie immensely was the Administrator, who was a small man with watery eyes and a turned up nose.

"Show some respect" he muttered to them now as Kuna waved to the Grand Mage. Yirrel was a big fan of respect, although he had never earned any himself in Valkyrie's eyes. The Grand Mage was a man called Percy Deceit with the power to detect lies, and looked about 27 with short, dark blonde hair and piercing green eyes.

"Did you catch the sword man?"

"We did" Darren said watching Ralph heave the man towards the medical bay.

"Very good. I don't like to make you start another job so quickly, but Sanctuaries all over the world are having files stolen. We need you to research the files that have been stolen. Unfortunately that means travelling to all the different countries and interviewing each Grand Mage separately. It's the only way communication can't be tapped into by other people"

"Surely we don't have to leave right away" Valkyrie said and Yirrel hissed something about respect again.

"You have three weeks until the Grand Mage in Indonesia is expecting you. After that you can go where you please and interview who you want as long as they're on this list of people who've been robbed" Percy Deceit pushed forward a piece of paper with names of countries written on. There was about seven in total and Luna gulped.

"All of these?"

"Sorry" Percy shrugged.

"The Grand Mage shouldn't apologise to his subjects" Yirrel grumbled just loud enough for Valkyrie to hear.

"We'll leave to Indonesia in about three weeks" Valkyrie said, pointedly glaring at Yirrel who squirmed under her gaze. Luna and Ralph linked arms and Valkyrie followed behind next to Darren.

"I've always wanted to go to Europe" Darren said, pointing to France on the list.

"I used to live there"

"You're a European?" Although they'd shared a flat with the twins for over three years now, the others knew very little about Valkyrie's past life. She'd made it obvious she didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm Irish"

"Cool! I knew you had some sort of accent, I just couldn't quite place it…"

"Maybe one day I'll tell you what happened. I worked for the Sanctuary there, you know" Valkyrie said and the other three listened attentively. It wasn't often Valkyrie was in the mood to talk.

"Since I was twelve I'd been a detective. I even had a partner…" Valkyrie trailed off and bit her lip.

"Are you ok?" Ralph said and took her hand. Valkyrie gave a shaky laugh and took off at a brisk pace "We need to get going. It's getting cold"

The others looked at each other but hurried after her. That was the most she'd talked about her past since they'd known her.

As the group wandered back to the house they shared, a tall man burst into the Grand Mages office. He was about to shout for help when the man put a hand to his mouth.

"I have an appointment"

The Grand Mage relaxed and shut the door, gesturing to an empty chair. The man sat down.

"You didn't have to make such an entrance. Now then, why do you need to talk to me?"

The man shuffled uneasily but asked the question that had been on his mind for months now.

"Do you know anyone called Valkyrie Cain?"

**There you go dear minions Xx**

**If you want me to continue the story please review. Even if it's just a pairing you want/ don't want me to include It'll show me who's reading :b**

**TheSquirrelLordess**


	2. Chapter 2: Reencounters

Valkyrie kicked the rock with anger and passion that never showed when anyone was watching. Here, where no one could see her, she was free to be as violent as she wanted. Her knuckles and shins were often bruised or bleeding, but the leather trousers and fingerless gloves hid that from her friends well enough. In pain from beating up the stone, but satisfied with letting out her emotions, Valkyrie made her way to the small house that she shared with her three best friends. She loved the absent-mindedness of Luna and the completely down to earth nature of her twin, Ralph, but most of all she liked Darren. She reminded her of Skulduggery in so many ways, the outside toughness but the soft, ready-to-listen centre was the main thing. As soon as she opened the door, Darren put an arm around her.

"There's a man in the living room that says he knows you" he said and Valkyrie walked on, intrigued.

A tall, thin man with waxy skin and a navy suit with a fedora at a jaunty angle's eyes widened when he spotted Valkyrie. Both froze.

"Val?"

Valkyrie opened her mouth before closing it again like a fish. Then, before she knew what she was doing she was laughing, crying and screaming at the same time. She bolted from the room like it was going to explode and kept running until no one had any hope of following her. She sat on the floor and thought until the sun was beginning to set. Was it really Skulduggery? It could've been a stranger, in which case she would've seemed like a total freak, but she knew that hat. Those gloves. That _suit_. Valkyrie Cain drifted off to sleep at the roadside.

After Valkyrie had made her disappearance, Darren loomed over Skulduggery, snarling at him.

"Who are you?!"

"Is she usually this emotional?" Skulduggery asked, ignoring the question.

"Emotional? I've known her for three years, and in all this time she hasn't laughed, cried, or even _smiled_. You don't even know her, do you? Get out!"

"Did she tell you about her past job?" Skulduggery ploughed on.

"Only that she worked in Ireland. And she had a partner… but she always gets choked up when she mentions them"

"I'm her partner"

Darren froze as Luna wandered through the wall.

"Who's this then?" she asked like finding a complete stranger sat in her living room was perfectly normal.

"I was about to ask that question myself" Darren said, his green eyes turning a dull shade of purple as he spoke. He didn't notice the change, but Luna, Ralph and Valkyrie noticed that when he was feeling strongly about something his eye colour changed. They had long since given up on finding out what colour means what.

"My name is… Did Valkyrie ever mention skeletons?"

Darren calmed down a bit. Skeletons? Maybe he did know her after all.

"She hates them. Can't stand the mention of them. We think it's some sort of phobia but she won't talk about it. She has a skull tattooed on her wrist though"

"She does?" Darren noticed the man seemed touched, as though this was something to do with him.

"All right. Spill" Darren didn't have the patience for riddles.

"I'm Skulduggery Pleasant. Valkyrie's ex-partner. I work for the sanctuary in Iceland, although I used to work with Valkyrie in Ireland a few years ago. This is a façade, by the way" he said, gesturing to his waxy skin "I'm a living skeleton" with that he deactivated his façade.

"You're skull suits you" Luna said casually but Ralph and Darren's jaws dropped.

"Why does she hate you?" Ralph said, speaking for the first time.

"I left her. I didn't want to but I felt like I had to. It's a really long story, but I realised I missed her and wanted my partner back. I've been helping myself to files all over the world trying to find her, and now I've found her she's run off again"

"So it was _you_ who stole all those files. In three weeks we were off on a trip around the world to try and solve that one!"

"Apologies. If you don't mind, I'm going to have to try and find Val before she does something stupid"

Darren glared at Skulduggery with his green eyes unnaturally pale as he left and he stopped.

"He doesn't like skeletons much, does he?" Skulduggery said to Luna, gesturing to Darren.

"Oh he's jealous"

"Jealous? Being a skeleton isn't very fun you know…"

"He's jealous of you and _Valkyrie_" Ralph said, pinching Darren's cheek and teasing him.

"I'm _not_" Darren hissed with his eyes tinting purple.

"Valkyrie was all his. He was the only one who could coax a small smile or a proper answer out of her. Then you show up and she practically _explodes_" Ralph continued and Darren's eyes turned violet.

"Shut up"

Skulduggery took this as his que to leave and followed clues from locals who'd seen a dark haired girl sprinting past a while ago, until he almost tripped over a bundle on the roadside. He picked her up and noticed she was just as light as she was years ago. Worried, he hauled her over his shoulder and carried the sleeping mess to his hotel room. He had a lot of explaining to do.

When Valkyrie woke up, the first thing she noticed was that this was definitely not home. The whole place was a sickly colour of cream and custard. Valkyrie sat up and stopped moving when she remembered Skulduggery. Slowly, she swivelled round so she could see the room. In a chair not far away, Skulduggery was slumped down, obviously meditating. She considered her options. She could run, get a new job and even a new name this time. She could go home and hope he took the hint. She could stay and wait for answers. She could come back later, when he was awake.

What was she supposed to do?

**There ya go Xx**

**The reviews have been taken into consideration (even if it doesn't seem like it yet...) so keep reviewin for me :)ThankYouSoMuch to anyone who's given me feedback (all five of you ._.). Fingers crossed they'll be more soon.**

**TheSquirrelLordess**


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